Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Name: Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 9
Cuisine: carrot cake
Ingredients: 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature; 1/4 cup coconut sugar; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup blanched almond flour; 2 tablespoons oat flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger; 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon sea salt; 1 cup shredded carrots; 1/2 cup chopped walnuts; 1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature; 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 tablespoons agave nectar; ground cinnamon, for sprinkling on top

March 22, 2018 (last updated August 26, 2021) // 20 Comments » //★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews

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This is a side view of a carrot cake cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with cinnamon. The cupcake sits on a white counter with more cupcakes blurred in the background. The paper cupcake liner is peeled off the cupcake revealing the fluffy cake. — Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes are perfectly sweet, gluten free, moist and delicious!! Topped with cream cheese frosting, they are perfect!

I really love carrot cake. I know, I know. I’m all about chocolate and cookies and rich desserts. How can I like a dessert with a root veggie in it?

Unexpected, I know.

I think I had a lot of carrot cake as a child and so there’s something super nostalgic about it for me. Plus, I mean, that cream cheese frosting!! Who can say no to that?!

I used to meticulously eat the cake part, forking between the frosting layer lines, so that I could save the icing for last.

It was especially creepy because as I was doing this weird icing ritual, I’d be singing in my head “Save the Best for Last” by Vanessa Williams (totally just googled who sang that and then listened to it all over again).

Anywho… cream cheese icing was my jam.

So is that why the cream cheese icing on these cupcakes is almost the same size as the cupcake itself? Maaaaybe. Whether you pile it high or skimp a little on the icing, you’re going to LOVE these healthier carrot cake cupcakes!

This is an overhead image of cupcakes with a vanilla frosting. The cupcakes are sprinkled with cinnamon and are sitting on a white counter.

Ingredients to make healthy carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting:

butter
coconut sugar
eggs
vanilla extract
blanched almond flour
oat flour
baking powder
ground ginger
ground cinnamon
salt
carrots
walnuts
cream cheese

This is an overhead image of a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Cinnamon is sprinkled on top of the cupcakes and on the white counter around the cupcakes. One cupcake has a bite taken out and is leaning on its side against another cupcake.

How to make healthy carrot cake cupcakes:

Whisk.

Whisk together the butter (ghee or coconut oil works too), coconut sugar, vanilla, and eggs.

Add the almond flour, oat flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Whisk until everything is combined.

Fold.

Fold in the shredded carrot and walnuts.

Bake.

Place paper liners in your muffin tin. Use an ice cream scooper to scoop the batter into each muffin tin until they’re almost all full. They don’t expand or rise too much, so feel free to make them pretty full.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Allow to come to room temperature before icing them.

Make the cream cheese frosting.

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the icing ingredients. Whip them on high until fluffy, about 1 minute.

Transfer the icing to a plastic baggie and cut off one corner. Squeeze the bag to ice each cupcake in a circular motion. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

This is a side view of a cupcakes with a white frosting. The cupcakes are sprinkled with cinnamon and sitting on a white counter. One cupcake is close and in focus while the rest of the cupcakes are blurred in the background.

More gluten free carrot cake recipes: